With a height of 3.5 metres, Uncle Sam was not only the tallest and strongest but also the richest man in a cluster of villages on a plateau. In the same area lived a short fat man who was fascinated by the biblical story of David and Goliath. He believed he was destined to be the David to defeat the Goliath of his time.

Hearing that a little man who had a boyish face but a big dream to achieve the goal of "establishing the equilibrium of real force" with him, Uncle Sam laughed loudly: "Let me have some fun waking up that fat boy who is forever living in his own world."

Next day he publicly declared that he would give away his house and all his personal possessions to anyone who could maintain equilibrium with him in a standing position on a seesaw within a period of five years. The "fat boy" was glad to hear the good news. Knowing that he could never reach the height of Uncle Sam, he decided to offset his shortness by increasing his weight. So he began eating a lot of food. At first he could go to market to buy his food and prepare his meals in his kitchen. As he grew more obese, he became bedridden and had to rely on his servants to feed and clean him.

Two years had passed, and he decided that time was ripe for him to challenge Uncle Sam on the seesaw. Weighing 1,300 pounds, he had to be lifted out of his house with a crane through a hole cut in the roof. A huge crowd gathered around to watch his haphazard way of exiting the house. Among them, some people who had obviously read the famous short story by the late 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant shouted jokingly: "Boule de Suif." (translated as "Ball of Tallow")

When the overweight man was transported in a truck to the seesaw, he could not stand up on the seesaw no matter how hard he tried. Seeing the condition of the "fat boy", Uncle Sam shook his head: "As in the Chinese saying 'bu zi liang li' (不 自 量 力), you have overrated your own abilities. Since you can't even stand on your own two feet, how can you establish the equilibrium of real force with me? If a wild beast comes along, this ball of fat of yours won't have a chance to come rolling home like "this old man" of an English nursery rhyme. Instead it will end up as a tasty meatball in the wild beast's stomach. Hence you are disqualified from the equilibrium challenge in accordance with my rules."